Sweet Gets First Victory As Outlaw

Brad Sweet, a NASCAR driver who can’t be kept away from the dirt, picked up his first career World of Outlaws victory in front of an electric crowd Friday at the Clay County Cup.

“It’s like, ‘Finally!'” he said after nearly climbing on the hood of his sprint car in Victory Lane. “We’ve been out here for a couple of years trying to get this. We’ve led so many laps and came so close so many times, so to finally get the monkey off my back I feel like we’re getting some momentum coming into the good summer months and I feel like we can win some more.”

In addition to competing part-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season, Sweet has made a handful of starts with World of Outlaws for Kasey Kahne Racing. He made the most of Friday’s opportunity with a powerful move to the lead during a restart on lap 16.

Sweet, who narrowly trailed polesitter Jason Sides for the first half of the 30-lap feature, rode the cushion around the track to perfection. While the duo entered turns three and four side by side, they exited with Sweet rocketing to the top spot at exactly the midpoint of the race.

“I know Jason real well,” he said. “I’ve raced against Jason a lot. He’s a clean racer and he’s really committed to the bottom most of the time. I felt like that top was getting cleaner and cleaner. Once he bobbled and I got a little bit more clean air on my nose, it was like I could run a little bit harder and feel a little bit more stuck on that cushion.”

Sweet pulled away to a sizeable margin and won by nearly a straightaway on the 3/8-mile oval. Meanwhile Sides fell to fifth after Sweet took the lead. Sides, who was riddled with four cautions while leading the first 15 laps of the feature, had to regroup in the closing laps and he was able to maneuver his way back to second place.

“We were good on the bottom,” Sides said. “When Sweet got by us there we actually tried the top and through the middle and stuff, and it wasn’t any good for us. I had to get back to the bottom and by that time we’d lost a few spots.

“I knew that we were good enough to be up there. I just had to calm myself down and get back to running my groove and hitting the marks that I needed to hit.”

After a three-way battle with Sweet and Sides for much of the first half of the race, Mark Dobmeier rounded out the podium.

“Sweet was running the top and Sides was running the bottom, and they were both good at their lanes so I just didn’t have a lane to get around them,” he said after placing third. “To be honest, it was a very racy track. We ran side by side for several laps there, so you couldn’t ask for much better of a track.”

The trio put on a dazzling show from the drop of the green flag on the dusty track. Their three-way battle for the lead was only slowed by a handful of cautions before the second half of the race went caution free.

Joey Saldana, who is fifth in the championship standings, was part of a seven-car crash on the frontstretch of the opening lap. Saldana’s car was towed to the pits, along with the race cars of Danny Lasoski, Terry McCarl, Davey Heskin and Jody Rosenboom. Lucas Wolfe and Austen Wheatley were able to continue after sustaining minor damage in the accident.

The race was then delayed on the eighth lap when Wheatley jumped the cushion in turns one and two. On the restart, Cody Darrah spun entering turn three and Wolfe had nowhere to go, sliding into Darrah.

The final caution came on lap 16 when Ian Madsen stopped on the frontstretch. That gave Sweet the opening he needed.

“It’s such a big relief to get this win and it feels really good for me and all my guys,” Sweet said. “Now I know what it takes to win these races and I should be able to get more I hope.”

Chad Kemenah, who drove from eighth and was running second with three laps remaining, finished fourth and Kerry Madsen was fifth. Sammy Swindell placed sixth and World of Outlaws championship standings leader Steve Kinser rallied from 21st to finish seventh to earn the KSE Hard Charger Award. Donny Schatz advanced from 22nd to eighth, Kraig Kinser was ninth and Brian Brown rounded out the top 10.

Saldana was the quickest in qualifying with a lap of 13.926 seconds. Sides, Ian Madsen and Dobmeier each claimed a heat race, and Craig Dollansky won the Last Chance Showdown.

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Clay County Cup Notebook

NOTES – This was the first spring race at Clay County Fairgrounds, which has hosted an event in the fall each of the past five years. … The race was promoted by World of Outlaws driver Craig Dollansky. … Dollansky and Donny Schatz were the only drivers who had previously won a World of Outlaws race at Clay County Fairgrounds. … Joey Saldana set quick time for the third race this season. … Jason Sides and Ian Madsen each picked up their second heat race win, and Mark Dobmeier earned his first heat victory of the season … Jason Sides won his series-best third dash of the season. … Dollansky became only the third driver this season to win his second Last Chance Showdown.

WINNERS – Craig Dollansky – 4 (I-96 Speedway on June 2, Hagerstown Speedway on May 20, Tri-State Speedway on April 21 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Sammy Swindell – 4 (Eldora Speedway on May 5, Knoxville Raceway on April 28, Missouri State Fair Speedway on April 20 and Merced Speedway on March 30); Joey Saldana – 3 (The Dirt Track at Charlotte on May 25, Paducah International Raceway on April 13 and Perris Auto Speedway on March 10); Donny Schatz – 3 (Farmer City Raceway on April 25, Silver Dollar Speedway on March 23 and Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 19); Tim Kaeding – 2 (Thunderbowl Raceway on March 16 and The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 8); Chad Kemenah – 2 (Lawrenceburg Speedway on May 28 and Eldora Speedway on May 4); Steve Kinser – 2 (Orange County Fair Speedway on May 19 and Williams Grove Speedway on May 12); Danny Dietrich – 1 (Lincoln Speedway on May 10); Kraig Kinser – 1 (Kokomo Speedway on June 5); Danny Lasoski – 1 (Volusia Speedway Park on Feb. 18); Paul McMahan – 1 (Rolling Wheels Raceway Park on May 16); Fred Rahmer – 1 (Williams Grove Speedway on May 11); Brad Sweet – 1 (Clay County Fairgrounds on June 8).

TIME TRIALS – Joey Saldana was the fastest qualifier around the 3/8-mile oval with a time of 13.926 seconds to earn five championship points. Also earning points were Sammy Swindell (4 points), Chad Kemenah (3), Brian Brown (2) and Kerry Madsen (1).

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